Tooling time is a measure of the surface cure time of a room temperature vulcanizable silicone sealant. It is measured from the time the sealant composition is extruded from the caulking gun with initial exposure to atmospheric moisture to when a thin surface skin of cured RTV silicone sealant has formed. Tooling the sealant after a skin has formed gives a mottled, rough and usually unacceptable appearance to the sealant. Sealants with tooling times below about five minutes must be applied in short time periods using short bead lengths and must be tooled or smoothed almost immediately. Sealants with extended tooling times of about ten minutes or more offer the user the advantage of being able to apply long bead lengths that enable the applier to apply complete or long bead lengths enabling the applier to completely seal the joints around a window or door for example while still possessing sufficient time to tool the sealant bead thereby rendering a smooth aesthetically pleasing surface to the sealant.
It has been well-known that various metal chelates may be used as condensation catalysts for alkoxy cure RTV silicone rubber compositions. Beers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,129 discloses a basic system of a silanol end-stopped polymer, a polyalkoxy silane crosslinking agent, and a titanium chelate condensation cure catalyst. Such a composition does have the advantage of long tooling or working times along with a tough elastomeric character and excellent primerless adhesion. However, these compositions are relatively slow to cure and cannot be rendered colorless or translucent due to the presence of the yellow titanium compound that catalyzes the condensation cure. Thus coloring agents, pigments and opaque fillers are necessary in this type formulation to mask the unwanted color imparted by the titanium catalyst.
Wengrovius and Lucas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,296 disclose the use of dibutyl tin diketonate complexes as condensation cure catalysts for alkoxy curing RTV silicone rubbers and elastomers. A preferred diketone as the diketonate radical is 2,4 pentanedione or acetylacetone, sometimes also referred to as Acac. Alkoxy curing RTV's catalyzed by dibutyltin acetylacetonate generally possess tooling times of ten minutes or more and provide a tough elastomeric sealant composition that also possess good adhesion.
The use of diketonate complexes as condensation cure catalysts in RTV silicone rubber formulations presents a new problem only recently recognized in terms of possible hazards to human health. The Environmental Protection Agency has recently issued a Significant New Use Rule covering 2,4-pentanedione labeling the compound a potential neurotoxin, mutagen, and inhalation toxin. This categorization essentially prohibits the use of 2,4-pentanedione in consumer products. Other non-toxic beta-diketones may be substituted for the 2,4-pentanedione. Such substitutes include among others: 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedione, 1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione, 2,4-hexanedione, and 5,7 nonanedione. These compounds are either not available in the commercial quantities that are required for the manufacture of RTV sealants or their use in a sealant formulation would render the sealant composition prohibitively expensive.
Prior to the present invention, it has been well-known that various metal salts of carboxylic acids can be used a condensation catalysts for alkoxy functional RTV silicone rubber compositions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,593,085; 4,670,532; 4,755,578; 4,895,918; 4,505,209; 4,563,498; 4,593,085; 4,483,973; 4,528,353; 4,515,932; and 4,528,324 disclose the use of single dialkyl tin dicarboxylates as condensation cure catalysts for alkoxy functional 1-part RTV's. In the cure systems disclosed and taught in these references, dibutyltin diacetate is particularly preferred. It has not been possible using only a single alkyltin dicarboxylate compound as the condensation cure catalyst to simultaneously achieve a long tooling time, a fast property development, a tough elastomeric character, an excellent primerless adhesion, and translucent colorless appearance.